Electronic device including multi-channel speaker system

ABSTRACT

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a multi-channel speaker system, and an electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure includes a housing, a display which is attached to the housing to be seen from the outside, an actuator which is attached to a back surface of the display to vibrate the display and to generate a sound of a first frequency band, a hole which is formed on one side surface of the housing, and a speaker which is positioned on a region adjacent to the hole to generate a sound of a second frequency band different from the first frequency band through the hole. The actuator includes a first actuator which is attached to a certain region of the back surface of the display to vibrate the display, and a second actuator which is attached to a back surface of the display spaced apart from the first actuator by a designated distance to vibrate the display.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application number 10-2019-0103042, filed onAug. 22, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to an electronic device including a multi-channelspeaker system.

2. Description of Related Art

As electronic devices (e.g., mobile devices) are increasingly used as ameans for enjoying music and videos beyond their basic function ofcommunicating, users of electronic devices are demanding an electronicdevice equipped with a speaker system of higher sound quality.

Accordingly, an electronic device having a multi-channel (e.g., 2.1channel) speaker system implemented therein emerges. However, arelated-art mobile device provided with a multi-channel speaker systemimplements the multi-channel speaker system by utilizing a speaker, andthus has no choice but to have a separate speaker hole for emitting asound.

Since a speaker hole may degrade the aesthetics of an electronic deviceand may degrade waterproof performance of the electronic device, aneffort has been made to minimize the speaker hole formed on theelectronic device. As a result, a method for applying sound on display(SOD) technology for generating a sound through a vibration of a panelby mounting a vibration actuator has recently been suggested.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination hasbeen made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

When a vibration actuator is used, there is no problem in generating asound of a high frequency band, but performance of generating a sound ofa low-frequency band may deteriorate in comparison to a normal speaker,due to characteristics of the vibration actuator.

To this end, a separate speaker is required to generate a sound of a lowfrequency band even if SOD technology is used, and as a result, there isa disadvantage that a speaker hole is necessary to implement amulti-channel speaker system even if SOD technology is applied to theelectronic device.

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentionedproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to providean electronic device, which can implement a multi-channel speaker systemwithout a separate speaker hole by emitting a sound generated in aspeaker to the outside of the electronic device by using a hole which isformed for other functions (e.g., USB connection or earphoneconnection), rather than a speaker hole, or by using an assembly gapwhich is formed between components of the electronic device.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

Another aspect of the disclosure aims at implementing a holelessstructure of an electronic device by providing an electronic devicewhich can implement a multi-channel speaker system by using a pluralityof vibration actuators according to another embodiment.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device isprovided. The electronic device includes a housing, a display which isattached to the housing to be seen from the outside, an actuator whichis attached to a back surface of the display to vibrate the display andto generate a sound of a first frequency band, a hole which is formed onone side surface of the housing, and a speaker which is positioned on aregion adjacent to the hole to generate a sound of a second frequencyband different from the first frequency band through the hole, whereinthe actuator includes a first actuator which is attached to a certainregion of the back surface of the display to vibrate the display, and asecond actuator which is attached to a back surface of the displayspaced apart from the first actuator by a designated distance to vibratethe display.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a housing including afirst region in which at least one air vent hole is formed, a displaywhich is attached to the housing to be seen from the outside, anactuator which is attached to a back surface of the display to vibratethe display and to generate a sound of a first frequency band, and aspeaker which is positioned in the first region to generate a sound of asecond frequency band which is lower than the first frequency bandthrough the at least one air vent hole, wherein the actuator includes afirst actuator which is attached to a certain region of a back surfaceof the display to vibrate the display, and a second actuator which isattached to a back surface of the display spaced apart from the firstactuator by a designated distance to vibrate the display.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a housing including afirst surface facing in a first direction, a second surface facing in asecond direction opposite to the first direction, and a side surfaceextended along borders of the first surface and the second surface toform an inner space, a display which is seen from an outside through thefirst surface of the housing, a first actuator which is attached to aback surface of an upper end of the display to vibrate the display andto generate a sound of a first frequency band, a second actuator whichis attached to a back surface of a lower end of the display to vibratethe display and to generate the sound of the first frequency band, and athird actuator which is attached to the second surface of the housing tovibrate the second surface of the housing and to generate a sound of asecond frequency band.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a networkenvironment according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view illustrating an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the electronic device of FIG. 2A whenviewed from back according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3A is an exploded perspective view of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3B is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a pluralityof vibration actuators are mounted inside the electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating components disposed inside a front surfaceof an electronic device and some regions of the electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 4taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 4taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 4taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5D is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 4taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which aconnector is connected to a first connector hole according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating components disposed inside a front surfaceof an electronic device and some regions of the electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 7taken on line B-B′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 7taken on line B-B′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8C is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 7taken on line B-B′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of some components of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 9according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 9according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process of operating anactuator or a speaker according to an operation state in an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 12A is a view illustrating a signal processing process of aprocessor according to a user's operation in a call mode according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 12B is a view illustrating a signal processing process of theprocessor according to a user's operation in a call mode according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 14A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 13according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 13according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 15 is a graph illustrating frequency bands of sounds generated inan electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding, but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of thedisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of thedisclosure is provided for illustration purposes only and not for thepurpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device in a networkenvironment according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic device 101 in the networkenvironment 100 may communicate with an electronic device 102 via afirst network 198 (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network),or an electronic device 104 or a server 108 via a second network 199(e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). The electronicdevice 101 may communicate with the electronic device 104 via the server108. The electronic device 101 may include a processor 120, memory 130,an input device 150, a sound output device 155, a display device 160, anaudio module 170, a sensor module 176, an interface 177, a haptic module179, a camera module 180, a power management module 188, a battery 189,a communication module 190, a subscriber identification module (SIM)196, or an antenna module 197. In some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, at least one (e.g., the display device 160 or the cameramodule 180) of the components may be omitted from the electronic device101, or one or more other components may be added in the electronicdevice 101. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, some of thecomponents may be implemented as single integrated circuitry. Forexample, the sensor module 176 (e.g., a fingerprint sensor, an irissensor, or an illuminance sensor) may be implemented as embedded in thedisplay device 160 (e.g., a display).

The processor 120 may execute software (e.g., a program 140) to controlat least one other component (e.g., a hardware or software component) ofthe electronic device 101 coupled with the processor 120, and mayperform various data processing or computation. As at least part of thedata processing or computation, the processor 120 may load a command ordata received from another component (e.g., the sensor module 176 or thecommunication module 190) in volatile memory 132, process the command orthe data stored in the volatile memory 132, and store resulting data innon-volatile memory 134. The processor 120 may include a main processor121 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) or an application processor(AP)), and an auxiliary processor 123 (e.g., a graphics processing unit(GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a sensor hub processor, or acommunication processor (CP)) that is operable independently from, or inconjunction with, the main processor 121. Additionally or alternatively,the auxiliary processor 123 may be adapted to consume less power thanthe main processor 121, or to be specific to a specified function. Theauxiliary processor 123 may be implemented as separate from, or as partof the main processor 121.

The auxiliary processor 123 may control at least some of functions orstates related to at least one component (e.g., the display device 160,the sensor module 176, or the communication module 190) among thecomponents of the electronic device 101, instead of the main processor121 while the main processor 121 is in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state,or together with the main processor 121 while the main processor 121 isin an active state (e.g., executing an application). The auxiliaryprocessor 123 (e.g., an image signal processor or a communicationprocessor) may be implemented as part of another component (e.g., thecamera module 180 or the communication module 190) functionally relatedto the auxiliary processor 123.

The memory 130 may store various data used by at least one component(e.g., the processor 120 or the sensor module 176) of the electronicdevice 101. The various data may include software (e.g., the program140) and input data or output data for a command related thererto. Thememory 130 may include the volatile memory 132 or the non-volatilememory 134, as well as internal memory 136 and external memory 138.

The program 140 may be stored in the memory 130 as software, and mayinclude an operating system (OS) 142, middleware 144, or an application146.

The input device 150 may receive a command or data to be used by othercomponent (e.g., the processor 120) of the electronic device 101, fromthe outside (e.g., a user) of the electronic device 101. The inputdevice 150 may include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard,or a digital pen (e.g., a stylus pen).

The sound output device 155 may output sound signals to the outside ofthe electronic device 101. The sound output device 155 may include aspeaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used for general purposes,such as playing multimedia or playing record, and the receiver may beused for an incoming calls. The receiver may be implemented as separatefrom, or as part of the speaker.

The display device 160 may visually provide information to the outside(e.g., a user) of the electronic device 101. The display device 160 mayinclude a display, a hologram device, or a projector and controlcircuitry to control a corresponding one of the display, hologramdevice, and projector. The display device 160 may include touchcircuitry adapted to detect a touch, or sensor circuitry (e.g., apressure sensor) adapted to measure the intensity of force incurred bythe touch.

The audio module 170 may convert a sound into an electrical signal andvice versa. The audio module 170 may obtain the sound via the inputdevice 150, or output the sound via the sound output device 155 or aheadphone of an external electronic device (e.g., an electronic device102) directly (e.g., wiredly) or wirelessly coupled with the electronicdevice 101.

The sensor module 176 may detect an operational state (e.g., power ortemperature) of the electronic device 101 or an environmental state(e.g., a state of a user) external to the electronic device 101, andthen generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to thedetected state. The sensor module 176 may include, for example, agesture sensor, a gyro sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, amagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a proximitysensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a biometric sensor, atemperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

The interface 177 may support one or more specified protocols to be usedfor the electronic device 101 to be coupled with the external electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device 102) directly (e.g., wiredly) orwirelessly. The interface 177 may include a high definition multimediainterface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a securedigital (SD) card interface, or an audio interface.

A connecting terminal 178 may include a connector via which theelectronic device 101 may be physically connected with the externalelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102). The connectingterminal 178 may include a HDMI connector, a USB connector, a SD cardconnector, or an audio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

The haptic module 179 may convert an electrical signal into a mechanicalstimulus (e.g., a vibration or a movement) or electrical stimulus whichmay be recognized by a user via his tactile sensation or kinestheticsensation. The haptic module 179 may include, for example, a motor, apiezoelectric element, or an electric stimulator.

The camera module 180 may capture a image or moving images. The cameramodule 180 may include one or more lenses, image sensors, image signalprocessors, or flashes.

The power management module 188 may manage power supplied to theelectronic device 101. The power management module 188 may beimplemented as at least part of, for example, a power managementintegrated circuit (PMIC).

The battery 189 may supply power to at least one component of theelectronic device 101. The battery 189 may include, for example, aprimary cell which is not rechargeable, a secondary cell which isrechargeable, or a fuel cell.

The communication module 190 may support establishing a direct (e.g.,wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel betweenthe electronic device 101 and the external electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 102, the electronic device 104, or the server 108) andperforming communication via the established communication channel. Thecommunication module 190 may include one or more communicationprocessors that are operable independently from the processor 120 (e.g.,the application processor (AP)) and supports a direct (e.g., wired)communication or a wireless communication. The communication module 190may include a wireless communication module 192 (e.g., a cellularcommunication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or aglobal navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module) or awired communication module 194 (e.g., a local area network (LAN)communication module or a power line communication (PLC) module). Acorresponding one of these communication modules may communicate withthe external electronic device via the first network 198 (e.g., ashort-range communication network, such as Bluetooth™, Wi-Fi direct, orinfrared data association (IrDA)) or the second network 199 (e.g., along-range communication network, such as a cellular network, theInternet, or a computer network (e.g., LAN or wide area network (WAN)).These various types of communication modules may be implemented as asingle component (e.g., a single chip), or may be implemented as multicomponents (e.g., multi chips) separate from each other. The wirelesscommunication module 192 may identify and authenticate the electronicdevice 101 in a communication network, such as the first network 198 orthe second network 199, using subscriber information (e.g.,international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) stored in thesubscriber identification module 196.

The antenna module 197 may transmit or receive a signal or power to orfrom the outside (e.g., the external electronic device) of theelectronic device 101. The antenna module 197 may include an antennaincluding a radiating element composed of a conductive material or aconductive pattern formed in or on a substrate (e.g., PCB). The antennamodule 197 may include a plurality of antennas. In such a case, at leastone antenna appropriate for a communication scheme used in thecommunication network, such as the first network 198 or the secondnetwork 199, may be selected, for example, by the communication module190 (e.g., the wireless communication module 192) from the plurality ofantennas. The signal or the power may then be transmitted or receivedbetween the communication module 190 and the external electronic devicevia the selected at least one antenna. According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, another component (e.g., a radio frequencyintegrated circuit (RFIC)) other than the radiating element may beadditionally formed as part of the antenna module 197.

At least some of the above-described components may be coupled mutuallyand communicate signals (e.g., commands or data) therebetween via aninter-peripheral communication scheme (e.g., a bus, general purposeinput and output (GPIO), serial peripheral interface (SPI), or mobileindustry processor interface (MIPI)).

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, commands or datamay be transmitted or received between the electronic device 101 and theexternal electronic device 104 via the server 108 coupled with thesecond network 199. Each of the electronic devices 102 and 104 may be adevice of a same type as, or a different type, from the electronicdevice 101. All or some of operations to be executed at the electronicdevice 101 may be executed at one or more of the external electronicdevices 102, 104, or 108. For example, if the electronic device 101should perform a function or a service automatically, or in response toa request from a user or another device, the electronic device 101,instead of, or in addition to, executing the function or the service,may request the one or more external electronic devices to perform atleast part of the function or the service. The one or more externalelectronic devices receiving the request may perform the at least partof the function or the service requested, or an additional function oran additional service related to the request, and transfer an outcome ofthe performing to the electronic device 101. The electronic device 101may provide the outcome, with or without further processing of theoutcome, as at least part of a reply to the request. To that end, acloud computing, distributed computing, or client-server computingtechnology may be used, for example.

The electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be one of various types of electronic devices. Theelectronic devices may include, for example, a portable communicationdevice (e.g., a smartphone), a computer device, a portable multimediadevice, a portable medical device, a camera, a wearable device, or ahome appliance. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, theelectronic devices are not limited to those described above.

It should be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure andthe terms used therein are not intended to limit the technologicalfeatures set forth herein to particular embodiments and include variouschanges, equivalents, or replacements for a corresponding embodiment.With regard to the description of the drawings, similar referencenumerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements. It is tobe understood that a singular form of a noun corresponding to an itemmay include one or more of the things, unless the relevant contextclearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, each of such phrases as “Aor B,” “at least one of A and B,” “at least one of A or B,” “A, B, orC,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “at least one of A, B, or C,” mayinclude any one of, or all possible combinations of the items enumeratedtogether in a corresponding one of the phrases. As used herein, suchterms as “1st” and “2nd,” or “first” and “second” may be used to simplydistinguish a corresponding component from another, and does not limitthe components in other aspect (e.g., importance or order). It is to beunderstood that if an element (e.g., a first element) is referred to,with or without the term “operatively” or “communicatively”, as “coupledwith,” “coupled to,” “connected with,” or “connected to” another element(e.g., a second element), it means that the element may be coupled withthe other element directly (e.g., wiredly), wirelessly, or via a thirdelement.

As used herein, the term “module” may include a unit implemented inhardware, software, or firmware, and may interchangeably be used withother terms, for example, “logic,” “logic block,” “part,” or“circuitry”. A module may be a single integral component, or a minimumunit or part thereof, adapted to perform one or more functions. Forexample, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in aform of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Various embodiments as set forth herein may be implemented as software(e.g., the program 140) including one or more instructions that arestored in a storage medium (e.g., internal memory 136 or external memory138) that is readable by a machine (e.g., the electronic device 101).For example, a processor (e.g., the processor 120) of the machine (e.g.,the electronic device 101) may invoke at least one of the one or moreinstructions stored in the storage medium, and execute it, with orwithout using one or more other components under the control of theprocessor. This allows the machine to be operated to perform at leastone function according to the at least one instruction invoked. The oneor more instructions may include a code generated by a complier or acode executable by an interpreter. The machine-readable storage mediummay be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Wherein,the term “non-transitory” simply means that the storage medium is atangible device, and does not include a signal (e.g., an electromagneticwave), but this term does not differentiate between where data issemi-permanently stored in the storage medium and where the data istemporarily stored in the storage medium.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method accordingto various embodiments of the disclosure may be included and provided ina computer program product. The computer program product may be tradedas a product between a seller and a buyer. The computer program productmay be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium(e.g., compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or be distributed (e.g.,downloaded or uploaded) online via an application store (e.g.,PlayStore™), or between two user devices (e.g., smart phones) directly.If distributed online, at least part of the computer program product maybe temporarily generated or at least temporarily stored in themachine-readable storage medium, such as memory of the manufacturer'sserver, a server of the application store, or a relay server.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, eachcomponent (e.g., a module or a program) of the above-describedcomponents may include a single entity or multiple entities. One or moreof the above-described components may be omitted, or one or more othercomponents may be added. Alternatively or additionally, a plurality ofcomponents (e.g., modules or programs) may be integrated into a singlecomponent. In such a case, according to various embodiments, theintegrated component may perform one or more functions of each of theplurality of components in the same or similar manner as they areperformed by a corresponding one of the plurality of components beforethe integration. Operations performed by the module, the program, oranother component may be carried out sequentially, in parallel,repeatedly, or heuristically, or one or more of the operations may beexecuted in a different order or omitted, or one or more otheroperations may be added.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view illustrating an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2B is a perspectiveof the electronic device of FIG. 2A when viewed from the back accordingto an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the electronic device 300 according tovarious embodiments may include a housing 310 which includes: a firstsurface (or a front surface) 310A facing in a first direction 11; asecond surface (or a rear surface) 310B facing in a second direction 12opposite to the first direction 11; and a side surface (or a sidewall)310C surrounding a space between the first surface 310A and the secondsurface 310B. In another embodiment of the disclosure (not shown), thehousing 310 may refer to a structure that forms some of the firstsurface 310A, the second surface 310B and the side surface 310C of FIGS.2A and 2B.

The first surface 310A may be formed by a front plate 302 (e.g., a glassplate including various coating layers, or a polymer plate) at least aportion of which is substantially transparent. According to anembodiment, the front plate 302 may include a curved portion that isbent from the first surface 310A toward a rear plate 311 and isseamlessly extended.

The second surface 310B may be formed by the rear plate 311 which issubstantially opaque. The rear plate 311 may be formed with, forexample, coated or colored glass, ceramic, polymer, metal (e.g.,aluminum, stainless steel (STS), or magnesium), or a combination of atleast two of the above-mentioned materials. The rear plate 311 mayinclude a curved portion that is bent from the second surface 310Btoward the front plate 302 and is seamlessly extended.

The side surface 310C may be formed by a side bezel structure (or a sidemember or a sidewall) 318 which is coupled with the front plate 302 andthe rear plate 311, and includes metal and/or polymer. The rear plate311 and the side bezel structure 318 may be integrally formed with eachother, and may include the same material (e.g., a metallic material suchas aluminum).

The electronic device 300 may include at least one of a display 301, anaudio module, a sensor module, a camera module 305, a key input device317, and a connector hole 308, 309. In a certain embodiment, theelectronic device 300 may omit at least one (e.g., the key input device317) of the components or may additionally include other components.

For example, the electronic device 300 may include a sensor module (notshown). A sensor such as a proximity sensor or an illuminance sensor maybe integrated into the display 301 within a region provided by the frontplate 302, or may be disposed on a position adjacent to the display 301.

The electronic device 300 may further include a light emitting element,and the light emitting element may be disposed on a position adjacent tothe display 301 within a region provided by the front plate 302. Thelight emitting element may provide state information of the electronicdevice 300 in the form of light, for example. The light emitting elementmay provide, for example, a light source operating in association withthe camera module 305. The light emitting element may include, forexample, a light emitting diode (LED), an infrared ray LED (IR LED), anda xenon lamp.

The display 301 may be seen from the outside of the electronic device300 through a substantial portion of the front plate 302. In a certainembodiment, an edge of the display 301 may be formed substantially thesame as a border shape (e.g., a curved surface) of the front plate 302that is adjacent to the display. In another embodiment (not shown), agap between the border of the display 301 and the border of the frontplate 302 may be formed substantially the same to extend a shown area ofthe display 301. In another embodiment of the disclosure (not shown), arecess or an opening may be formed on a portion of a screen displayregion of the display 301, and the electronic device 300 may includeother electronic components aligned with the recess or the opening, forexample, the camera module 305, a proximity sensor or an illuminancesensor which is not shown.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, at least one of the cameramodule 312, 313, a fingerprint sensor 306, and a flash 316 may beincluded on a back surface of the screen display region of the display301. In another embodiment of the disclosure (not shown), the display301 may be coupled with or disposed adjacent to a touch detectioncircuitry, a pressure sensor for measuring a strength (pressure) of atouch, and/or a digitizer for detecting a stylus pen of a magnetic fieldmethod.

The audio module may include a microphone hole and a speaker hole. Themicrophone hole may have a microphone disposed therein to acquire anexternal sound. The microphone hole may have a plurality of microphonesdisposed therein to detect a direction of a sound. The speaker hole andthe microphone hole may be implemented as one hole, or only a speakermay be included without a separate speaker hole (e.g., a piezo speaker).

The electronic device 300 may include the sensor module (not shown),thereby generating an electric signal or a data value corresponding toan internal operation state or an external environment state. The sensormodule may further include a proximity sensor disposed on the firstsurface 310A of the housing 310, a fingerprint sensor integrated into ordisposed adjacent to the display 301, and/or a biometric sensor (e.g., aheart rate monitor (HRM) sensor) disposed on the second surface 310B ofthe housing 310. The electronic device 300 may further include thesensor module (not shown), for example, at least one of a gesturesensor, a gyro sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a magneticsensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a color sensor, aninfrared (IR) sensor, a biometric sensor, a temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

The camera module 305, 312, 313, 306 may include a first camera device305 disposed on the first surface 310A of the electronic device 300, asecond camera device 312, 313 disposed on the second surface 310B,and/or the flash 306. The camera devices 305, 312, 313 may include onelens or a plurality of lenses, an image sensor, and/or an image signalprocessor. The flash 306 may include, for example, a light emittingdiode or a xenon lamp. Two or more lenses (an infrared camera, a wideangle lens and a telephoto lens) and image sensors may be disposed onone surface of the electronic device 300.

The key input device 317 may be disposed on the side surface 310C of thehousing 310. In another embodiment of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 300 may omit a portion or an entirety of the above-mentioned keyinput device 317, and the key input device 317 that is not included maybe implemented on the display 301 in other forms such as a soft key. Thekey input device may include at least a portion of the fingerprintsensor 316 disposed on the second surface 310B of the housing 310.

The connector hole 308, 309 may include a first connector hole 308 toaccommodate a connector (e.g., a USB connector) for exchanging powerand/or data with an external electronic device, and/or a secondconnector hole (e.g., an earphone jack) 309 to accommodate a connectorfor exchanging an audio signal with an external electronic device. In acertain embodiment of the disclosure (not shown), the first connectorhole 308 and the second connector hole 309 may be implemented as onehole. The electronic device 300 may exchange power and/or data with anexternal electronic device, or may exchange an audio signal, without thefirst connector hole 308 and the second connector hole 309, which willbe described in detail below.

FIG. 3A is an exploded perspective view of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3B is a perspectiveview illustrating a state in which a plurality of vibration actuators441, 441 a, 443, 443 a are mounted inside the electronic device 300according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the electronic device 300 may include a housing401 (e.g., the housing 310 of FIG. 2A), a transparent plate 402 (e.g.,the front plate 302 of FIG. 2A), a rear plate 403 (e.g., the rear plate311 of FIG. 2B), a support member 410, a display 420 (e.g., the display301 of FIG. 2A), a vibration actuator 440, and a speaker 500. At leastone of the components of the electronic device 300 may be the same as orsimilar to at least one of the components of the electronic device 300of FIG. 2A or 2B, and a redundant explanation is omitted.

The housing 401 may include a first surface (e.g., the front surface310A of FIG. 2A) of the electronic device 300, a second surface (e.g.,the rear surface 310B of FIG. 2B), and a side surface (e.g., the sidesurface 310C of FIG. 2B) extended along borders of the first surface andthe second surface to surround an inner space of the electronic device300.

The transparent plate 402 may form the first surface of the electronicdevice 300. A border of the transparent plate 402 may be connected incontact with a portion of the side surface (or sidewall) of the housing401. The transparent plate 402 may be formed with a transparent polymermaterial (e.g., polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) or aglass material, and the transparent polymer or glass material may bemerely an example of a material for forming the transparent plate 402,and the material of the transparent plate 402 is not limited thereto.

The rear plate 403 may form the second surface of the electronic device300. A border of the rear plate 403 may be connected in contact with aportion of the side surface (or sidewall) of the housing 401. In anotherexample, the rear plate 403 may be integrally formed with the sidesurface of the housing 401.

The support member 410 may support electronic components (e.g., acamera, a printed circuit board (PCB) or the vibration actuator 440)disposed inside the electronic device 300. The support member 410 may beextended from the side surface of the housing 401 toward the inner spaceof the electronic device 300. The support member 410 may be integrallyformed with the side surface of the housing 401, or may be separatedfrom the side surface of the housing 401 and may be disposed inside thehousing 401.

At least a portion of the support member 410 may support the transparentplate 402 in contact with the transparent plate 402, and may be formedto surround the display 420, which will be described below. The supportmember 410 may be disposed or formed, spaced apart from the display 420,such that a gap 405 is formed between the support member 410 and thedisplay 420.

The display 420 may be formed with a plurality of layers, and may bedisposed between the transparent plate 402 and the support member 410.For example, the display 420 may include a thin film transistor (TFT)layer, an electrode layer, an organic material layer, or a pixel layer.

The display 420 may have at least a portion seen from the outside of theelectronic device 300 through the transparent plate 402. Specifically,the display 420 may emit light from a pixel to transmit information to auser, and the emitted light may be transmitted to the outside throughthe transparent plate 402.

The display 420 may include a display panel (not shown) or a touch panel(not shown), and the touch panel may be disposed on a cell of thedisplay panel. The display 420 may be coupled with or may be disposedadjacent to some of a touch detection circuitry connected with the touchpanel to detect a touch, a pressure sensor for measuring a strength(pressure) of a touch, or a digitizer for detecting a stylus pen of amagnetic field method.

The vibration actuator 440 may be configured to convert an electricsignal into a mechanical signal, and for example, may generate avibration (mechanical signal) through an electric signal includingacoustic information.

The vibration generated at the vibration actuator 440 may be transmittedto instruments (e.g., the support member 410, the display 420, or thetransparent plate 402) of the electronic device 300, thereby generatingan acoustic signal. For example, the vibration generated at thevibration actuator 440 may be transmitted to the display 420. Thedisplay 420 may operate as a vibration plate of a speaker, therebygenerating a sound through the vibration generated at the vibrationactuator 440. The vibration actuator 440 may not only generate a soundthrough the generated vibration, but may also implement a hapticfunction.

The vibration actuator 440 may be attached to a back surface (or rearsurface) of the support member 410 to generate a vibration, and may beattached to a back surface of the display 420 through an opening formedon the support member 410 to generate a vibration. The vibrationactuator 440 may be attached to the back surface of the support member410 or the back surface of the display 420 through an adhesive member,and the adhesive member may include, for example, a double-sidedadhesive film, a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA).

The vibration actuator 440 may include a first actuator 441 and a secondactuator 443. The first actuator 441, the second actuator 443 may beattached to a back surface of the support member 410 or a back surfaceof the display 420 to generate a vibration and to generate a sound, aswill be described below, and the electronic device 300 may implement atwo-channel speaker system through the sound generated at the firstactuator 441 and the sound generated at the second actuator 443.According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the vibrationactuator 440 may include an additional actuator (not shown) in additionto the first actuator 441, the second actuator 443, thereby implementinga multi-channel speaker system. The vibration actuator 440 may be avoice coil motor or a piezoelectric actuator, but is not limitedthereto.

The electronic device 300 may include the speaker 500 to generate asound of a low frequency band. When a sound is generated through thevibration actuator 440, there is no problem in generating a sound of ahigh frequency band, but the vibration actuator 440 does not have a goodfrequency characteristic of a low frequency band, and may have a limiton generating a sound of a low frequency band. The electronic device 300may generate a sound of a high frequency band through the vibrationactuator 440, and may generate a sound of a low frequency band throughthe speaker 500, not through the vibration actuator 440. The electronicdevice 300 may implement one channel, two-channel, . . . , N-channel (Nis a natural number) through the vibration actuator 440, and mayimplement 0.1 channel through the speaker 500, such that an N.1 (N is anatural number) channel speaker system can be implemented consequently.The speaker 500 may be a dynamic speaker formed with a vibration plate,a magnet, a coil, etc., but is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the electronic device 300 may include a firstactuator 441, a second actuator 443, a third actuator 441 a, and afourth actuator 443 a which are attached to a back surface of thedisplay 420. For example, the first actuator 441 may be attached to acertain region of the back surface of the display 420, and the secondactuator 443 may be attached to a back surface of the display 420 spacedapart from the first actuator 441 by a designated distance in a verticaldirection (e.g., a y-direction of FIG. 3B). The third actuator 441 a maybe attached to a back surface of the display 420 spaced apart from thefirst actuator 441 by a designated distance in a horizontal direction(e.g., an x-direction of FIG. 3B), and the fourth actuator 443 a may beattached to a back surface of the display 420 spaced apart from thethird actuator 441 a by a designated distance in the vertical direction(e.g., the y-direction of FIG. 3B). The first actuator 441, the secondactuator 443, the third actuator 441 a, and the fourth actuator 443 amay be attached to the back surface of the display 420 to form arectangular shape. However, the attachment positions of the firstactuator 441, the second actuator 443, the third actuator 441 a, and thefourth actuator 443 a are not limited to thereto. The first actuator441, the second actuator 443, the third actuator 441 a, and the fourthactuator 443 a may be attached to the back surface of the display 420 toform a trapezoidal shape.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a first stereo may beimplemented through sounds generated by the first actuator 441 and thesecond actuator 443 which is spaced apart from the first actuator 441 inthe vertical direction. In addition, a second stereo may be implementedthrough sounds generated by the third actuator 441 a and the fourthactuator 443 a which is spaced apart from the third actuator 441 a inthe vertical direction. A third stereo may be implemented by soundsgenerated by the first actuator 441 and the third actuator 441 a whichis spaced apart from the first actuator 441 in the horizontal direction,and a fourth stereo may be implemented by sounds generated by the secondactuator 443 and the fourth actuator 443 a which is spaced apart fromthe second actuator 443 in the horizontal direction. The electronicdevice 300 may implement a stereo by operating the first actuator 441and the second actuator 443, and may implement a stereo by operating thefirst actuator 441 and the third actuator 441 a. The electronic device300 may implement a stereo by operating the third actuator 441 a and thefourth actuator 443 a, and may implement a stereo by operating thesecond actuator 443 and the fourth actuator 443 a.

The electronic device 300 may implement 0.1 channel by further includinga speaker (e.g., the speaker 500 of FIG. 3A). Although not illustratedin FIG. 3B, this is the same as described above and a detaileddescription thereof is omitted.

When a sound is generated to the outside of the electronic device 300through the speaker 500, a separate hole (e.g., a speaker hole) isrequired to emit the sound generated in the speaker 500 to the outside,and thus it is common that the speaker 500 is positioned in theproximity of the speaker hole. The electronic device 300 may have thespeaker 500 disposed on a region adjacent to a hole formed for otherpurposes (e.g., a USB connector or an earphone jack), rather than in aspeaker hole, and may emit a sound generated in the speaker 500 to theoutside through the hole formed for other purposes, not through aspeaker hole.

The electronic device 300 according to another embodiment of thedisclosure may have the speaker 500 disposed on a region adjacent to anassembly gap between components, and may emit a sound generated in thespeaker 500 to the outside through the assembly gap, although this isnot illustrated.

For example, the speaker 500 may be disposed on a region adjacent to anassembly gap between the support member 410 and the transparent plate402 or an assembly gap between the support member 410 and the rear plate403. In this case, the assembly gap may be a rectangular recess having awidth of 0.2 mm or less, but is not limited thereto. The electronicdevice 300 according to another embodiment may have the speaker 500disposed on a region adjacent to an air vent hole, and may emit a soundgenerated in the speaker 500 to the outside of the electronic device 300through the air vent hole, and a detailed description thereof will beprovided below.

A hole (e.g., a speaker hole) of a predetermined size or larger isessential to emit sounds when sounds of all frequency bands aregenerated through the speaker 500. However, since the electronic device300 according to various embodiments of the disclosure uses the speaker500 to generate a sound of a low frequency band, not all frequencybands, a sound can be emitted to the outside of the electronic device300 through a hole formed for other purposes, an assembly gap betweencomponents, and/or an air vent hole, not through a speaker hole.

The electronic device 300 according to various embodiments of thedisclosure can emit a sound to the outside of the electronic device 300without requiring a separate speaker hole, by changing the position ofthe speaker 500. A detailed description of this is provided below.

FIG. 4 is a view schematically illustrating a state in which a speakeris disposed on a position adjacent to a first connector hole (e.g., aUSB connector) inside a front surface of an electronic device 300 andsome regions of the electronic device according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic deviceof FIG. 4 taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device300 of FIG. 4 taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of the electronic deviceof FIG. 4 taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 5D is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device300 of FIG. 4 taken on line A-A′ according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5A, the electronic device 300 may include ahousing 401, a transparent plate 402, a support member 410, a display420, a vibration actuator 440, and a speaker 500. At least one of thecomponents of the electronic device 300 may be the same as or similar toat least one of the components of the electronic device 300 of FIG. 3A,and a redundant explanation of the same or similar components will beomitted below.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the vibrationactuator 440 may include a first actuator 441, a second actuator 443,and may implement a two-channel speaker system. As shown in FIG. 5A, thefirst actuator 441 may be attached to a back surface of an upper end (adirection 15 of FIG. 2) of the support member 410 through a firstadhesive member 442, and the second actuator 443 may be attached to aback surface of a lower end (a direction 16 of FIG. 2) of the supportmember 410 through a second adhesive member 444. When an electric signalincluding acoustic information is inputted to the first actuator 441 andthe second actuator 443, vibration may be generated on the back surfaceof the upper end and the back surface of the lower end of the supportmember 410, respectively. The vibrations generated on the support member410 may be transmitted to the display 420, and the display 420 may serveas a vibration plate of a speaker, thereby generating a sound.

When the sound is generated through the first actuator 441 and thesecond actuator 443 attached to the back surface of the support member410, a loss may be caused in the process of transmitting the vibrationsgenerated on the support member 410 to the display 420. Therefore, thefirst actuator 441 and the second actuator 443 may be directly attachedto a rear surface of the display 420.

Referring to FIG. 5B, the support member 410 according to an embodimentmay include a first opening 411 and a second opening 412 penetratingthrough the inside of the support member 410. The first opening 411 andthe second opening 412 may be the same as outer circumferences of thefirst actuator 441 and the second actuator 443 or may be larger than theouter circumferences, such that the first actuator 441 and the secondactuator 443 pass through the first opening 411 and the second opening412, respectively. The first opening 411 and the second opening 412 mayhave a circular shape, a rectangular shape, or a rectangular shapehaving rounded corners, and may have a shape corresponding to the outercircumference of the first actuator 441 or the second actuator 443, butis not limited thereto.

The first opening 411 may be formed on a region of the upper end of thesupport member 410, and the second opening 412 may be formed on a regionof the lower end of the support member 410, and the first actuator 441may be attached to a back surface of an upper end of the display 420through the first opening 411 by the first adhesive member 442, and thesecond actuator 443 may be attached to a back surface of a lower end ofthe display 420 through the second opening 412 by the second adhesivemember 444.

When the first actuator 441 and the second actuator 443 are attached tothe back surface of the support member 410, a vibration loss may becaused in the process of transmitting the vibration generated on thesupport member 410 to the display 420. However, the first actuator 441and the second actuator 443 may be attached to the back surface of thedisplay 420 which serves as a vibration plate of the speaker, so that aloss caused in the process of transmitting a vibration can be minimized.

Referring to FIG. 5C, the electronic device 300 may further include apartition member 450. The support member 410 may be disposed or formed,spaced apart from the display 420, such that a gap 405 is formed betweenthe support member 410 and the display 420. The partition member 450according to an embodiment may be disposed or formed in the gap 405formed between the support member 410 and the display 420.

The partition member 450 may be positioned between the first actuator441 and the second actuator 443 within the gap 405 to prevent generationof interference between the sound generated by the vibration of thefirst actuator 441 and the sound generated by the vibration of thesecond actuator 443. The partition member 450 may be formed with a sounddeadener of a rubber-based or asphalt-based material to prevent theinterference, but is not limited thereto.

The partition member 450 may be disposed in the middle between the firstactuator 441 and the second actuator 443, or may be disposed close tothe first actuator 441 or close to the second actuator 443 withreference to the middle between the first actuator 441 and the secondactuator 443.

In response to the same vibration, a vibration plate of a small areagenerates a sound of a high frequency band, and a vibration plate of alarge area generates a sound of a low frequency band. A size of avibration region of the display 420 may vary according to a position ofthe partition member 450.

For example, when the partition member 450 is disposed close to thefirst actuator 441 with reference to the middle between the firstactuator 441 and the second actuator 443, a region of the display 420that vibrates by the vibration generated at the first actuator 441 isnarrower than a region of the display 420 that vibrates by the vibrationgenerated at the second actuator 443, and accordingly, a sound of a highfrequency band may be generated by the vibration of the first actuator441 and a sound of a low frequency band may be generated by thevibration of the second actuator 443.

In another example, when the partition member 450 is disposed close tothe second actuator 443 with reference to the middle between the firstactuator 441 and the second actuator 443, a region of the display 420that vibrates by the vibration generated at the first actuator 441 islarger than a region of the display 420 that vibrates by the vibrationgenerated at the second actuator 443, and accordingly, a sound of a lowfrequency band may be generated by the vibration of the first actuator441 and a sound of a high frequency band may be generated by thevibration of the second actuator 443.

The electronic device 300 can not only prevent interference between thesounds generated by the first actuator 441 and the second actuator 443through the partition member 450, but can also adjust the frequency bandof the sound generated by the first actuator 441 and the frequency bandof the sound generated by the second actuator 443, variously, byadjusting the position of the partition member 450.

Referring to FIG. 5D, the electronic device 300 may further include aconnection member 460. One end of the connection member 460 may beattached to a back surface of the display 420, and the first actuator441 or the second actuator 443 may be attached to the other end of theconnection member 460.

The first actuator 441 or the second actuator 443 may be attached to theconnection member 460, and may be attached to the display 420 throughthe connection member 460, such that a resonance frequency of the firstactuator 441 or the second actuator 443 is changed. For example, even ifa resonance frequency is 6000 Hz when the first actuator 441 is directlyattached to the display 420, the resonance frequency may be changed to500 Hz when the first actuator 441 is attached to the connection member460. The electronic device 300 may form a cantilever structure byattaching the vibration actuator 440 to the connection member 460, sothat a vibration characteristic of the vibration actuator 440 can bevariously changed. According to various embodiments of the disclosure(not shown), one end of the connection member 460 may be attached to aback surface of the support member 410, and the vibration actuator 440may be attached to the other end, and the electronic device 300 mayinclude one connection member 460 (e.g., FIG. 5D), or may include aplurality of connection members 460 (not shown).

Since the vibration actuator 440 has a limit on generating a sound of ahigh frequency band in comparison to a general speaker, the electronicdevice 300 may further include the speaker 500 to generate a sound of alow frequency band, and may implement N channel (N is a natural number)through the vibration actuator 440 and may implement 0.1 channel throughthe speaker 500.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, the electronic device 300may have the speaker 500 disposed on a region adjacent to the firstconnector hole 308 (e.g., a USB connector) for accommodating a connectorfor exchanging power or data with an external electronic device.

It is common that a separate hole (not shown) (e.g., a speaker hole) foremitting a sound is essential when the speaker 500 is installed in theelectronic device 300, but in the electronic device 300, the speaker 500may be disposed on a region adjacent to the first connector hole 308,such that a sound generated in the speaker 500 can be emitted to theoutside of the electronic device 300 through the first connector hole308 without a separate speaker hole.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a slit 510 may be formedinside the first connector hole 308 to fluidly communicate with theinside of the housing 401 and the first connector hole 308, and thesound generated in the speaker 500 may be transmitted to the inside ofthe first connector hole 308 through the slit 510 and may be emitted tothe outside of the electronic device 300. The electronic device 300 mayinclude the first connector hole 308 having the slit 510 formed therein,and may have the speaker 500 disposed on a region adjacent to the firstconnector hole 308, such that a sound of a low frequency band generatedin the speaker 500 can be emitted to the outside of the electronicdevice 300 without a separate speaker hole.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which aconnector is connected to a first connector hole according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, in a state where the connector 308′ (e.g., a USBconnector) is not connected to the first connector hole 308, there is noproblem in emitting the sound generated in the speaker 500 to theoutside of the electronic device 300 through the first connector hole308. However, when the connector 308′ is connected to the firstconnector hole 308, there may be a problem in emitting the sound throughthe first connector hole 308.

Referring to FIG. 6, in the electronic device 300, the first connectorhole 308 may be formed to have a length D1 longer than a length D2 ofthe connector 308′, such that an inner space A is formed inside thefirst connector hole 308 when the connector 308′ is electricallyconnected to the first connector hole 308. The inner space A may beformed between the inside of the first connector hole 308 and an end ofthe connector 308′, and the slit 510 formed in the first connector hole308 may be positioned in the inner space A. Being electrically connectedrefers to a state in which power or data can be exchanged between thefirst connector hole 308 and the connector 308′, and does not only referto a state in which the first connector hole 308 and the connector 308′are physically coupled to each other.

Since the slit 510 is positioned inside the inner space A, the soundgenerated in the speaker 500 can be transmitted to the inner space A inthe first connector hole 308 even when the connector 308′ iselectrically connected to the first connector hole 308.

The sound transmitted to the inner space A can be transmitted to theoutside of the electronic device 300 due to the diffraction phenomenoneven when the connector 308′ is electrically connected to the firstconnector hole 308. The electronic device 300 can emit the soundgenerated in the speaker 500 to the outside of the electronic device 300even when the connector 308′ is electrically connected to the firstconnector hole 308.

FIG. 7 is a view schematically illustrating a state in which a speakeris disposed on a position adjacent to a second connector hole (e.g., anearphone jack) inside a front surface of an electronic device and someregions of the electronic device according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic deviceof FIG. 7 taken on line B-B′ according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic deviceof FIG. 7 taken on line B-B′ according to various embodiments, and FIG.8C is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device of FIG. 7 taken online B-B′ according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7 and FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, the electronic device 300according to various embodiments may include a housing 401, atransparent plate 402, a support member 410, a display 420, a vibrationactuator 440, and a speaker 500.

The vibration actuator 440 may include a first actuator 441, a secondactuator 443, and may implement a two-channel speaker system. Referringto FIG. 8A, the first actuator 441 may be attached a back surface of anupper end of the support member 410 through a first adhesive member 442,and the second actuator 443 may be attached to a back surface of a lowerend of the support member 410 through a second adhesive member 444. Whenan electric signal including acoustic information is inputted to thefirst actuator 441 and the second actuator 443, vibrations may begenerated on the back surface of the upper end and the back surface ofthe lower end of the support member 410, respectively, and thevibrations generated on the support member 410 may be transmitted to thedisplay 420. The display 420 may serve as a vibration plate of thespeaker, and may generate a sound based on the vibrations received fromthe support member 410.

When the first actuator 441, the second actuator 443 are attached to theback surface of the support member 410 and vibrate, and the generatedvibrations are transmitted to the display 420 and the sound isgenerated, there may be a loss in the process of transmitting thevibrations generated on the support member 410 to the display 420.Therefore, the first actuator 441 and the second actuator 443 may bedirectly attached to a back surface of the display 420 through the firstadhesive member 442, the second adhesive member 444, respectively, sothat a loss in the vibration caused in the process of transmitting canbe minimized.

Referring to FIG. 8B, the support member 410 may include a first opening411 and a second opening 412 penetrating through the inside of thesupport member 410. The first opening 411 and the second opening 412 maybe formed to be the same as or larger than outer circumferences of thefirst actuator 441 and the second actuator 443, respectively, such thatthe first actuator 441 and the second actuator 443 pass through thefirst opening 411 and the second opening 412, respectively. The firstopening 411 and the second opening 412 may have a circular shape, arectangular shape, or a rectangular shape having rounded corners, or mayhave a shape corresponding to the outer circumference of the firstactuator 441 or the second actuator 443. However, this should not beconsidered as limiting.

The first opening 411 may be formed on a region of the upper end of thesupport member 410, and the second opening 412 may be formed on a regionof the lower end of the support member 410, and the first actuator 441may be attached to a back surface of an upper end of the display 420through the first opening 411, and the second actuator 443 may beattached to a back surface of a lower end of the display 420 through thesecond opening 412.

The first actuator 441 and the second actuator 443 may be attached tothe back surface of the display 420 serving as a vibration plate of thespeaker, so that a loss in vibrations caused in the process oftransmitting the vibrations can be reduced and thus acoustic performanceof the electronic device 300 can be enhanced.

Referring to FIG. 8C, the electronic device 300 may further include apartition member 450. The support member 410 may be disposed or formed,spaced apart from the display 420, such that a gap 405 is formed betweenthe support member 410 and the display 420, and the partition member 450according to an embodiment may be disposed or formed in the gap 405formed between the support member 410 and the display 420.

The partition member 450 may be positioned between the first actuator441 and the second actuator 443 in the gap 405 to prevent generation ofinterference between the sound generated by the vibration of the firstactuator 441 and the sound generated by the vibration of the secondactuator 443. The partition member 450 may be formed with a sounddeadener of a rubber-based or asphalt-based material to prevent theinterference, but is not limited thereto.

The partition member 450 may be disposed in the middle between the firstactuator 441 and the second actuator 443, and according to anembodiment, the partition member 450 may be disposed close to the firstactuator 441 or close to the second actuator 443 with reference to themiddle between the first actuator 441 and the second actuator 443.

In response to the same vibration, a vibration plate of a small areagenerates a sound of a high frequency band, and a vibration plate of alarge area generates a sound of a low frequency band. A size of avibration region of the display 420 may vary according to a position ofthe partition member 450. Accordingly, a frequency band of the soundgenerated in the region of the display 420 to which the first actuator441 is attached, and a frequency band of the sound generated in theregion of the display 420 to which the second actuator 443 is attachedmay be different from each other.

For example, when the partition member 450 is disposed close to thefirst actuator 441 with reference to the middle between the firstactuator 441 and the second actuator 443, the region of the display 420that vibrates by the vibration generated at the first actuator 441 isnarrower than the region of the display 420 that vibrates by thevibration generated at the second actuator 443, and accordingly, a soundof a high frequency band may be generated by the vibration of the firstactuator 441 and a sound of a low frequency band may be generated by thevibration of the second actuator 443.

The electronic device 300 can prevent interference between the soundsgenerated by the first actuator 441 and the second actuator 443 throughthe partition member 450, while adjusting the frequency band of thesound generated by the first actuator 441 and the frequency band of thesound generated by the second actuator 443, variously, by adjusting theposition of the partition member 450.

Although not shown in FIG. 8C, the electronic device 300 may furtherinclude a connection member (e.g., 460 of FIG. 5D) which has one endattached to a back surface of the display 420 or a back surface of thesupport member 410, and the other end attached to the vibration actuator440 to adjust a vibration characteristic (e.g., a resonance frequency)of the vibration actuator 440. The connection member is the same asdescribed above and a detailed description thereof is omitted.

The electronic device 300 may further include the speaker 500 togenerate a sound of a low frequency band, in addition to the vibrationactuator 440. Referring to FIG. 7 and FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, the speaker 500may be disposed on a region adjacent to the second connector hole 309,and may emit a sound to the outside of the electronic device 300 throughthe second connector hole 309.

The second connector hole 309 may be a hole (e.g., an earphone jack)formed in the housing 401 of the electronic device 300 to accommodate aconnector (not shown) for exchanging an audio signal with an externalelectronic device, and the electronic device 300 according to anembodiment may have the speaker 500 disposed on a region adjacent to thesecond connector hole 309 and may emit a sound to the outside throughthe second connector hole 309.

A slit 520 may be formed inside the second connector hole 309 to fluidlycommunicate with the second connector hole 309 and the inside of thehousing 401. A sound generated in the speaker 500 within the housing 401may be transmitted to the inside of the second connector hole 309through the slit 520, and the sound transmitted to the inside of thesecond connector hole 309 may spread to the outside of the electronicdevice 300. Therefore, the electronic device 300 can emit a sound to theoutside of the electronic device 300 without forming a separate hole foremitting a sound.

When a connector (not shown) is electrically connected to the secondconnector hole 309, a sound should be generated in an externalelectronic device (e.g., an earphone), not in the vibration actuator 440or the speaker 500 within the electronic device. Therefore, an operationof the speaker 500 does not cause a problem when the second connectorhole 309 and the connector are electrically connected with each other.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of some components (the rearplate 403 and the speaker 500) of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view of theelectronic device 300 of FIG. 9 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device300 of FIG. 9 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9 and FIGS. 10A-10C, the electronic device 300according to various embodiments may include a housing 401, atransparent plate 402, a rear plate 403, a support member 410, a display420, a vibration actuator 440, and a speaker 500. At least one of thecomponents of the electronic device 300 may be the same as or similar toat least one of the components of the electronic device 300 of FIG. 3,and a position (e.g., the support member 410 or the display 420) towhich the vibration actuator 440 is attached may be the same as orsimilar to the position to which the vibration actuator 440 of theelectronic device 300 of FIGS. 5A and 5B or the electronic device 300 ofFIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C is attached. An explanation of the same or similarcomponents as those previously described will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 9, the rear plate 403 of the electronic device 300 mayinclude a humidity control region B formed in a certain region thereof.At least one air vent hole 404 may be formed on the humidity controlregion B. The electronic device 300 may control humidity inside theelectronic device 300 by discharging internal air of the electronicdevice 300 to the outside of the electronic device 300 through the atleast one air vent hole 404 formed on the humidity control region B.

The humidity control region B may be formed with a waterproof materialdifferent from that of the other region of the rear plate 403, and mayprevent water from permeating the electronic device 300 from the outsidethrough the air vent hole 404, while discharging internal air of theelectronic device 300 to the outside through the air vent hole 404. Forexample, the humidity control region B may be formed with a waterproofmaterial such as Gore-Tex, and the humidity control region B may beformed on the transparent plate 402, a side surface (e.g., 310C of FIG.2A) of the housing 401, in addition to the rear plate 403.

Referring to FIG. 9 or FIGS. 10A and 10B, the speaker 500 may bedisposed on the humidity control region B having the least one air venthole 404 formed thereon, and a sound of a low frequency band generatedin the speaker 500 may be emitted to the outside of the electronicdevice 300 through the at least one air vent hole 404 formed on thehumidity control region B. The electronic device 300 may have thespeaker 500 disposed a region adjacent to the air vent hole 404, and mayemit a sound through the air vent hole 404, such that the electronicdevice 400 can emit a sound to the outside of the electronic device 300without forming a separate hole for emitting a sound.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process of operating anactuator or a speaker according to an operation state in an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 12A is a viewillustrating a signal processing process of a processor according to auser's operation in a call mode, and FIG. 12B is a view illustrating asignal processing process of the processor according to a user'soperation in a call mode according to various embodiments of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B, an electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 300 of FIG. 3) may further include an audio processingcircuitry (not shown), a processor 120, and an amplifier 152, 153, and154.

The audio processing circuitry may be disposed inside a housing (e.g.,the housing 401 of FIG. 3) of the electronic device, and may beelectrically connected with a vibration actuator 441, 443 or a speaker500 for generating a sound.

The processor 120 may be disposed inside the housing of the electronicdevice, and may be electrically connected with the audio processingcircuitry, and may control an operation of the actuator 441, 443 or thespeaker 500 through the audio processing circuitry.

The amplifier 152, 153, and 154 may amplify an electric signal includingacoustic information and may transmit the electric signal to the speaker500 or the actuator 441, 443. For example, a first amplifier 152 mayamplify an electric signal to be transmitted to the speaker 500, and asecond amplifier 153 and a third amplifier 154 may amplify electricsignals to be transmitted to a first actuator 441, a second actuator443.

Referring to FIG. 11, according to an embodiment, the processor 120 mayidentify an operation state of the electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 300 of FIG. 3) in operation S1100. For example, theuser may play back a multimedia or make a call through the electronicdevice, and the processor 120 may identify whether the electronic deviceis playing back a multimedia or is making a call.

In operation S1101, the processor 120 may operate the vibration actuator441, 443 or the speaker 500 based on the operation state (e.g., playingback multimedia content, making a call) of the electronic deviceidentified in operation S1100. For example, the processor 120 maydifferently control the operation of the vibration actuator 441, 443 andthe speaker 500 according to a call mode when the user is playing back amultimedia or is making a call.

Referring to FIG. 12A, when the user is making a call in a hand-freemode or is playing back a multimedia, the processor 120 according to anembodiment may operate both the vibration actuator 441, 443 and thespeaker 500 and may generate sounds since it is important to transmit asound.

Referring to FIG. 12B, according to another embodiment of thedisclosure, when the user is making a call in a hand-set mode, the usercan talk only with a sound generated on a display (e.g., the display 420of FIG. 3) since the user's ear is close to the electronic device, andaccordingly, the processor 120 may generate a sound by operating onlythe vibration actuator 441, 443.

Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B, the electronic device may furtherinclude a low pass filter (LPF) 151. In a multi-channel speaker system,a sound is typically generated by using a speaker specialized for a lowfrequency band. Since an existing speaker emits a sound through a hole(e.g., a speaker hole) separately formed within an electronic device,there is no problem in transmitting the sound to a user. However, in theelectronic device according to the above-described embodiments of thedisclosure, a sound generated in the speaker (e.g., the speaker 500 ofFIG. 3) is emitted not through a hole formed for emitting a sound, butthrough a first connector hole (e.g., a USB connector), a secondconnector hole (e.g., an earphone jack), an assembly gap betweencomponents, and/or an air vent hole (e.g., the air vent hole 404 of FIG.9), and thus there may be a problem in transmitting the sound (e.g., aweak sound).

Specifically, since the first connector hole, the second connector hole,the assembly gap (or assembly hole), and/or the air vent hole are formedfor other purposes rather than for the purpose of emitting a sound, thefirst connector hole, the second connector hole, the assembly gap,and/or the air vent hole may have smaller diameters than that of thehole formed for the purpose of emitting a sound, and an energy loss maybe caused in the process of emitting the sound. According to variousembodiments of the disclosure, the electronic device may transmit only asignal of a low frequency band to the speaker 500 through the low passfilter 151. As only the signal of the low frequency band is transmittedto the speaker through the low pass filter 151, an energy loss of thespeaker caused by a signal of an intermediate or high frequency band canbe reduced. Therefore, the electronic device can smoothly transmit asound to a user without a problem that a sound is weak when the sound isemitted through the first connector hole, the second connector hole, orthe air vent hole.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 14A is across-sectional view of the electronic device according to an embodimentof the disclosure. FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of the electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 13 and FIGS. 14A and 14B, the electronic device 300may include a housing 401, a transparent plate 402, a rear plate 403, asupport member 410, a display 420, and a vibration actuator 440. Atleast one of the components of the electronic device 300 may be the sameas or similar to at least one of the components of the electronic device300 of FIG. 3, and a redundant explanation is omitted.

In addition, the electronic device 300 may further include an audioprocessing circuitry and/or a processor (e.g., the processor 120 of FIG.12A) electrically connected with the vibration actuator 440, and theprocessor may control an operation of the vibration actuator 440according to an operation of the electronic device. For example, theprocessor may operate only some vibration actuators 440 of a pluralityof vibration actuators 440 according to an operation of the electronicdevice. Since the processor of the electronic device 300 is the same asor similar to the processor of the electronic device of FIG. 12A or 12Bdescribed above, a redundant explanation is omitted.

The electronic device 300 may use wireless charging technology,short-range wireless communication technology (e.g., Bluetooth), and maynot be provided with a connector hole (e.g., the connector hole 308, 309of FIG. 3) for exchanging power and/or data with an external electronicdevice, or for exchanging an audio signal, and may not be provided witha separate hole (e.g., a speaker hole) for emitting a sound, which isdifferent from the electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 300 ofFIG. 3) of the above-described embodiments.

The electronic device 300 without the connector hole and the speakerhole may emit a sound to the outside of the electronic device 300through the vibration actuator 440. The vibration actuator 440 mayinclude a first actuator 441, a second actuator 443, and a thirdactuator 445. According to various embodiments, the first actuator 441or the second actuator 443 may be attached to a back surface of thesupport member 410 (e.g., FIG. 14A), or may be attached to a backsurface of the display 420 through a first opening 411, a second opening412, and generate a sound, thereby implementing a two-channel speakersystem of an intermediate or high frequency band. The first actuator 441or the second actuator 443 may be attached to the back surface of thesupport member 410 or the display 420 through a first adhesive member442 or a second adhesive member 444, and the process of generating asound by the first actuator 441, the second actuator 442 is the same asdescribed above, and thus a detailed description thereof is omitted. Theelectronic device 300 may further include a partition member (e.g., thepartition member 450 of FIG. 5C) like the electronic device 300 of FIG.5C described above, or may further include a connection member (e.g.,the connection member 460 of FIG. 5D) like the electronic device 300 ofFIG. 5D.

The third actuator 445 may attached to a back surface of the housing 401(i.e., to a certain region of the rear plate 403), through a thirdadhesive member 446, thereby generating a sound of a low frequency band.There may be a problem that it is difficult to generate a sound of a lowfrequency band through the vibration actuator 440 due to acharacteristic of the vibration actuator 440 (a frequency characteristicof a low frequency band is not good). However, the electronic device 300may have the third actuator 445 attached to the rear plate 403, suchthat a sound of a low frequency band can be efficiently generatedthrough the third actuator 445. The rear plate 403 may be formed with amaterial (e.g., plastic, aluminum) of stiffness lower than that of thesupport member 410 or the display 520 to which the first actuator 441,the second actuator 443 is attached.

A frequency of vibrations generated in the vibration actuator 440 may beinversely proportional to stiffness of an element (e.g., the supportmember 410, the display 420) to which the vibration actuator 440 isattached. For example, when the vibration actuator 440 is attached to anelement having second stiffness lower than first stiffness, morevibrations may be generated than when the vibration actuator 440 isattached to an element having the first stiffness. The third actuator445 may be attached to a certain region of the rear plate 403 havingstiffness lower than that of the support member 410 or the display 420,and may generate more vibrations than when being attached to otherregion, so that a sound of a low frequency band can be efficientlygenerated.

In the electronic device 300, the first actuator 441, the secondactuator 443 may be attached to the back surface of the support member410 or the display 420 to generate a sound of an intermediate or highfrequency band, such that a two-channel speaker system is implemented.The third actuator 445 may be attached to the rear plate 403 and maygenerate a sound of a low frequency band, such that 0.1 channel isimplemented. As a result, the electronic device 300 can implement aspeaker system of 2.1 channel through the first actuator 441, the secondactuator 443, and the third actuator 445, without forming a connectorhole (e.g., 308, 309 of FIG. 3) and a speaker hole.

According to another embodiment of the disclosure, the first actuator441, the second actuator 443, or the third actuator 445 may not onlygenerate a sound, but may also implement a haptic function on thedisplay 420 or the rear plate 403 through a vibration. The vibrationactuator 440 according to various embodiments may further include aplurality of actuators in addition to the first actuator 441, the secondactuator 443, and the third actuator 445.

FIG. 15 is a graph illustrating frequency bands of sounds generated inan electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 15, the electronic device may generate a sound of anintermediate or high frequency band (e.g., Tweeter (TW) or full range(FR) of FIG. 15) through a vibration actuator (e.g., the vibrationactuator 441, 443 of FIG. 3) attached to a back surface of a supportmember (e.g., the support member 410 of FIG. 5A) or a display (e.g., thedisplay 420 of FIG. 5B), and may have a speaker (e.g., the speaker 500of FIG. 5A) positioned on a region adjacent to a connector hole (e.g.,the first connector hole 308 of FIG. 5A or the second connector hole 309of FIG. 8A), or an air vent hole (e.g., the air vent hole 404 of FIG.9), thereby emitting a sound of a low frequency band (e.g., Woofer (WF)of FIG. 15) to the outside of the electronic device through theconnector hole or the air vent hole.

The electronic device according to another embodiment of the disclosuremay generate a sound of an intermediate or high frequency band (Tweeter(TW) or full range (FR) of FIG. 15) through a vibration actuator (e.g.,the vibration actuator 441, 443 of FIG. 14A) attached to a back surfaceof a support member (e.g., the support member 410 of FIG. 14A) or adisplay (e.g., the display 420 of FIG. 14B), and may generate a sound ofa low frequency band (e.g., Woofer (WF) of FIG. 15) through anothervibration actuator (e.g., the third actuator 445 of FIG. 14A) attachedto a rear plate (e.g., the rear plate 403 of FIG. 14A).

The electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosuremay omit a separate speaker hole for emitting a sound, and can generatesounds of various band widths (indicated by the dashed line of FIG. 15)by using holes (e.g., a connector hole) formed within the electronicdevice for other purposes, and when a separate hole is not formed withinthe electronic device, the electronic device can introduce a holelessdesign thereinto and can generate sounds of various bandwidths(indicated by the dashed line of FIG. 15) by using a plurality ofvibration actuators.

An electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 300 of FIG. 3A)according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include: a housing(e.g., the housing 401 of FIG. 5B); a display (e.g., the display 420 ofFIG. 5B) which is attached to the housing to be seen from an outside; anactuator (e.g., the vibration actuator 440 of FIG. 5B) which is attachedto a back surface of the display to vibrate the display and to generatea sound of a first frequency band; a hole (e.g., the first connectorhole 308 of FIG. 5A, the second connector hole 309 of FIG. 8A) which isformed on one side surface of the housing; and a speaker (e.g., thespeaker 500 of FIG. 5A) which is positioned on a region adjacent to thehole to generate a sound of a second frequency band different from thefirst frequency band through the hole, and the actuator may include: afirst actuator (e.g., the first actuator 441 of FIG. 5B) which isattached to a certain region of the back surface of the display tovibrate the display; and a second actuator (e.g., the second actuator443 of FIG. 5B) which is attached to a back surface of the displayspaced apart from the first actuator by a designated distance to vibratethe display.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include a partition member (e.g., the partition member 450 ofFIG. 5C) which is positioned between the first actuator and the secondactuator.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the first frequency bandmay be higher than the second frequency band.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include a low pass filter (e.g., the low pass filter 151 of FIG.12A) configured to generate a sound of a low frequency band in thespeaker.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the hole may be a firstconnector hole (e.g., the first connector hole 308 of FIG. 5A)configured to accommodate a connector for exchanging power or data withan external electronic device, or a second connector hole (e.g., thesecond connector hole 309 of FIG. 8A) configured to accommodate aconnector for exchanging an audio signal with an external electronicdevice.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include a slit (e.g., the slit 510 of FIG. 5A, the slit 520 ofFIG. 8A) which is formed inside the hole to emit a sound generated inthe speaker to the outside of the electronic device.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the first connector holemay have an inner space (e.g., the inner space A of FIG. 6) formedbetween an inside of the first connector hole and a connector when thefirst connector hole and the connector are electrically connected witheach other.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, when the connector iselectrically connected to the first connector hole, the electronicdevice may emit a sound generated in the speaker to the outside of theelectronic device through the inner space.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include at least one connection member (e.g., the connectionmember 460 of FIG. 5D) having one end attached to a back surface of thedisplay, and the actuator may be attached to the other end of the atleast one connection member.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include: an audio processing circuitry which is positionedinside the housing and is electrically connected with the actuator orthe speaker; and a processor (e.g., the processor 120 of FIG. 12A) whichis positioned inside the housing and is electrically connected with theaudio processing circuitry (not shown).

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the processor may beconfigured to operate only the at least one actuator when the electronicdevice is operated in a hand-set mode.

An electronic device according to another embodiment of the disclosuremay include: a housing (e.g., the housing 401 of FIG. 10A) including afirst region (e.g., the region B of FIG. 9) in which at least one airvent hole (e.g., the air vent hole 404 of FIG. 9) is formed; a display(e.g., the display 420 of FIG. 10A) which is attached to the housing tobe seen from an outside; an actuator (e.g., the first actuator 441, thesecond actuator 443 of FIG. 10A) which is attached to a back surface ofthe display to vibrate the display and to generate a sound of a firstfrequency band; and a speaker (e.g., the speaker 500 of FIG. 10A) whichis positioned in the first region to generate a sound of a secondfrequency band which is lower than the first frequency band through theat least one air vent hole, and the actuator may include: a firstactuator (e.g., the first actuator 441 of FIG. 10A) which is attached toa certain region of a back surface of the display to vibrate thedisplay; and a second actuator (e.g., the second actuator 443 of FIG.10A) which is attached to a back surface of the display spaced apartfrom the first actuator by a designated distance to vibrate the display.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the first region may beformed with a waterproof material.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include a low pass filter (e.g., the low pass filter 151 of FIG.12A) configured to generate a sound of a low frequency band in thespeaker.

An electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 300 of FIG. 13)according to another embodiment of the disclosure may include: a housing(e.g., the housing 401 of FIG. 13) including a first surface (e.g., thetransparent plate 402 of FIG. 13) facing in a first direction, a secondsurface (e.g., the rear plate 403 of FIG. 13) facing in a seconddirection opposite to the first direction, and a side surface extendedalong borders of the first surface and the second surface to form aninner space; a display (e.g., the display 420 of FIG. 13) which is seenfrom an outside through the first surface of the housing; a firstactuator (e.g., the first actuator 441 of FIG. 13) which is attached toa back surface of an upper end of the display to vibrate the display andto generate a sound of a first frequency band; a second actuator (e.g.,the second actuator 443 of FIG. 13) which is attached to a back surfaceof a lower end of the display to vibrate the display and to generate thesound of the first frequency band; and a third actuator (e.g., the thirdactuator 445 of FIG. 13) which is attached to the second surface of thehousing to vibrate the second surface of the housing and to generate asound of a second frequency band.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include: an audio processing circuitry (not shown) which ispositioned inside the housing and is electrically connected with thefirst actuator, the second actuator, or the third actuator; and aprocessor (e.g., the processor 120 of FIG. 12A) which is positionedinside the housing and is electrically connected with the audioprocessing circuitry.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device mayfurther include a partition member (e.g., the partition member 450 ofFIG. 5C) which is positioned between the first actuator and the secondactuator.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, stiffness of the secondsurface may be lower than stiffness of the display.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the second frequency bandmay be lower than the first frequency band.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the first actuator, thesecond actuator, or the third actuator may be configured to implement ahaptic function.

The electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosurecan implement a multi-channel speaker system without having a separatespeaker hole for emitting a sound, and thus can enhance acousticperformance of the electronic device.

In addition, the electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe disclosure can implement a multi-channel speaker system without aspeaker hole, unlike a related-art electronic device, and thus canguarantee differentiation from the related-art electronic device from adesign perspective, and can also enhance waterproof performance.

In the above-described specific embodiments of the disclosure, elementsincluded in the disclosure are expressed in singular or plural formsaccording to specific embodiments. However, singular or plural forms areappropriately selected according to suggested situations for convenienceof explanation, and the disclosure is not limited to a single element orplural elements. An element which is expressed in a plural form may beconfigured in a singular form or an element which is expressed in asingular form may be configured in plural number.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tovarious embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a housing; adisplay which is attached to the housing to be seen from the outside; anactuator which is attached to a back surface of the display to vibratethe display and to generate a sound of a first frequency band; a holewhich is formed on one side surface of the housing; and a speaker whichis positioned on a region adjacent to the hole to generate a sound of asecond frequency band different from the first frequency band throughthe hole, wherein the actuator comprises: a first actuator which isattached to a certain region of the back surface of the display tovibrate the display; and a second actuator which is attached to a backsurface of the display spaced apart from the first actuator by adesignated distance to vibrate the display.
 2. The electronic device ofclaim 1, further comprising a partition member which is positionedbetween the first actuator and the second actuator.
 3. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the first frequency band is higher than thesecond frequency band.
 4. The electronic device of claim 3, furthercomprising a low pass filter configured to generate a sound of a lowfrequency band in the speaker.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the hole is one of a first connector hole configured toaccommodate a connector for exchanging power or data with an externalelectronic device, or a second connector hole configured to accommodatea connector for exchanging an audio signal with an external electronicdevice.
 6. The electronic device of claim 5, further comprising a slitwhich is formed inside the hole to emit a sound generated in the speakerto the outside of the electronic device.
 7. The electronic device ofclaim 5, wherein the first connector hole has an inner space formedbetween an inside of the first connector hole and a connector when thefirst connector hole and the connector are electrically connected witheach other.
 8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein, when theconnector is electrically connected to the first connector hole, theelectronic device is configured to emit a sound generated in the speakerto the outside of the electronic device through the inner space.
 9. Theelectronic device of claim 1, further comprising: at least oneconnection member having one end attached to a back surface of thedisplay, wherein the actuator is attached to the other end of the atleast one connection member.
 10. The electronic device of claim 1,further comprising: audio processing circuitry which is positionedinside the housing and is electrically connected with the actuator orthe speaker; and a processor which is positioned inside the housing andis electrically connected with the audio processing circuitry.
 11. Theelectronic device of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured tooperate only the at least one actuator when the electronic device isoperated in a hand-set mode.
 12. An electronic device comprising: ahousing comprising a first region in which at least one air vent hole isformed; a display which is attached to the housing to be seen from theoutside; an actuator which is attached to a back surface of the displayto vibrate the display and to generate a sound of a first frequencyband; and a speaker which is positioned in the first region to generatea sound of a second frequency band which is lower than the firstfrequency band through the at least one air vent hole, wherein theactuator comprises: a first actuator which is attached to a certainregion of a back surface of the display to vibrate the display, and asecond actuator which is attached to a back surface of the displayspaced apart from the first actuator by a designated distance to vibratethe display.
 13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the firstregion is formed with a waterproof material.
 14. The electronic deviceof claim 12, further comprising a low pass filter configured to generatea sound of a low frequency band in the speaker.
 15. An electronic devicecomprising: a housing comprising a first surface facing in a firstdirection, a second surface facing in a second direction opposite to thefirst direction, and a side surface extended along borders of the firstsurface and the second surface to form an inner space; a display whichis seen from the outside through the first surface of the housing; afirst actuator which is attached to a back surface of an upper end ofthe display to vibrate the display and to generate a sound of a firstfrequency band; a second actuator which is attached to a back surface ofa lower end of the display to vibrate the display and to generate thesound of the first frequency band; and a third actuator which isattached to the second surface of the housing to vibrate the secondsurface of the housing and to generate a sound of a second frequencyband.
 16. The electronic device of claim 15, further comprising: audioprocessing circuitry which is positioned inside the housing and iselectrically connected with the first actuator, the second actuator, orthe third actuator; and a processor which is positioned inside thehousing and is electrically connected with the audio processingcircuitry.
 17. The electronic device of claim 15, further comprising apartition member which is positioned between the first actuator and thesecond actuator.
 18. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein astiffness of the second surface is lower than a stiffness of thedisplay.
 19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the secondfrequency band is lower than the first frequency band.
 20. Theelectronic device of claim 16, wherein the first actuator, the secondactuator, or the third actuator is configured to implement a hapticfunction.
 21. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the firstactuator, the second actuator, and the third actuator are configured toimplement a 2.1 channel speaker system.
 22. The electronic device ofclaim 15, wherein the housing omits a speaker hole for emitting audio.23. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the display includes asupport member to which the first actuator and the second actuator areattached.